Tag: book recommendation

Book Review, Fiction

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Fiction

Culpability is an ambitious fictional exploration of the increasing role of AI in our lives and the ethical considerations around it. The book starts with a family getting into a car crash that kills two people. Who was driving? Was it technically the autonomous car, or teenage Charlie who was in the driver’s seat? In the wake of the incident, the family retreats to a rented house on the Chesapeake Bay to try to lay low and process what happened. As each one grapples with the fallout, we slowly learn that they are all harboring secrets related to the crash.

The family drama and secrets kept me most drawn to this story. Although I didn’t really like any of the characters, I wanted to know what they were hiding from one another and how it was all going to come to light. That part of the story did not disappoint. Lorelei, Charlie’s mother, is a leader in the AI space adding an extra wrinkle to the discussion about AI within the story and influencing perspectives and motivations.

Despite a very interesting and timely premise, I felt like this book had a lack of focus that kept it from totally working for me. There was a whole second ‘incident’ with Charlie that popped up partway through the story and seemed totally weird and unnecessary. For me, it took away from the main issues at the center of the book, in terms of both technology and the family drama.

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Book Review, Fiction

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham ~ Book Review

Morgan

Genre: Fiction
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5

The Academy reminded me of a grown up version of The Clique books (complementary). In classic Elin Hilderbrand fashion, we are introduced to a bunch of different characters and explore their evolving social dynamics and the ensuing drama. The difference from her other books is that, with her daughter as a co-author, the setting has shifted to a boarding school and the focus is its students.

I found some of the characters to be overly stereotypical in their actions and descriptions, but honestly it helped me keep them straight. We have the new girl who doesn’t fit in, Charley, the young new teacher, the popular girl slash influencer and the bad boy recluse (plus a few others, but you get the point). Despite there being many people to keep track of, I felt like I got a lot of background on each of them and was able to understand their motivations, even if I disagreed and/or thought they were terrible ideas. It kept me fully invested.

The setting of Tiffin Academy was so vibrant that I felt completely immersed in it. Over the course of the book you get to know the campus really well, primarily learned through the eyes of both students and staff. When I stopped reading, I couldn’t wait to pick the book back up and return.

As per my Clique reference, something about the boarding school setting plus extreme drama reminded me of series that I read in middle and high school, but elevated. I can’t believe I have to wait a year for the sequel.

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Buy The Academy at an indie bookstore near you
The Academy on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, thriller

Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister ~ Book Review

Morgan

Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Release Date: May 5, 2026 (Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC)

I can always count on Gillian McAllister to deliver a thriller I can’t look away from. Caller Unknown is no exception. Simone leaves the UK to meet her daughter, Lucy, in Texas for a camping trip. On their first morning there together, Simone wakes up to find that Lucy has been kidnapped. What follows is a test of just how far she is willing to go for her daughter.

This story completely hit the ground running. McAllister does an incredible job of, in very little time, investing me fully in Lucy and Simone’s relationship and painting a picture of their personalities. It made me completely buy into Simone’s actions and reactions once her daughter disappears.

I had no idea where this story was going to go from chapter to chapter. There are a lot of different segments to the story that all felt very different to me, but each was just as compelling as the last. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire story.

We’re mostly reading from Simone’s point of view and the narrative does a good job of weaving in her relationship with her husband as well as snippets from her past that round her out really well and help inform her motivations.

This was a five star read until the end, part of which I found to be a touch unconvincing.

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Buy Caller Unknown at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Memoir, Nonfiction

Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything by Alyson Stoner ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Memoir

What a powerful memoir. In Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, Alyson Stoner recollects their experience growing up in the limelight of Hollywood. From the time they were six, they were attending auditions and competing endlessly for roles that so often seemed just out of reach.

Alyson’s voice throughout this narrative especially stood out to me. They tell their story in such a straightforward way, which made it really impactful to see how they’d normalized very not-normal things they experienced during their unusual childhood and adolescence.

From being promised roles that never came to fruition to battling an eating disorder, to weighing the merit of kidnapping threats, Alyson illustrates their strength and perseverance over and over again.

In addition to the pressures of being on set and on screen, they also found themselves deeply involved with a religious community only to later realize that the beliefs of that community made it hard for Alyson to actually be true to who they are.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Alyson, and highly recommend it.

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Buy Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything at an indie bookstore near you
Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

I’ve seen this book around forever and I don’t know why it took me so long to pick it up. Now that I’ve finished it, I keep kind of getting it mixed up with I Hope This Finds You Well, which I read earlier this year and is also primarily a workplace focused story about someone who doesn’t quite fit in with her colleagues around her.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine did an exceptional job at getting inside of Eleanor’s head and showing the reader how she came to the conclusions she did and why other people might find her thought processes odd. She strikes up an unexpected friendship with the IT guy at work, Raymond, and it was really heartwarming to watch them open up to each other. I really appreciated seeing her realize that maybe the things she believed about herself and her future were not all true.

Eleanor has frequent phone calls with her ‘Mummy’ and we slowly learn about the abuse she suffered as a child. There was a lot more to this part of the story than I was expecting and it helps to inform Eleanor’s actions in the present-day narrative.

This was a surprising and unusual book where not all that much happens plot-wise, but the main character is interesting enough that I stayed invested and a whole lot happens in terms of her growth.

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Buy Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

It’s hard to write a review of Finding Grace without giving away a major twist in the book – but don’t worry, it happens very early on. The story is told from the perspective of Honor, who has a daughter named Chloe, and a husband, Tom, but longs for another child. She is so close to getting what she wants until suddenly, the unthinkable happens and the entire story is flipped on its head.

The rest of the book is kind of a weird twisted, suspenseful romance. I was so shocked by the initial twist in this book and completely sucked in by Tom’s compulsive behavior. This was the kind of book where you feel utterly sickened by characters’ actions, so much so that you can’t look away.

I will say, toward the end of the book I was completely fed up with Tom and felt like his behavior had gone off the tracks to the point where it wasn’t really enjoyable to read about. But overall, a suspenseful and unexpected story start to finish.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Finding Grace at an indie bookstore near you|
Finding Grace on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein ~ Book Review

Morgan


My Rating: 🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance

The first time I tried to read this book I couldn’t get into it at all, but I decided to revisit it during the summer since it has a lake house setting. Marginally helpful. Vivian’s dad never told her she had a half sister, so after he dies, she is shocked to find Lucy at her dad’s lake house. The two of them are forced to grapple not only with the grief of losing their father, but also the reality of coexisting.

I really enjoyed the Maine setting and the descriptions of life on the lake. It was atmospheric and realistic and fun to hear about during the summer, particularly since I live in New England. That was the main (get it) redeeming quality of the book for me. Both sisters were incredibly annoying. There was too much emphasis on one being really not well-off and the other being an uppity city girl. I did not care about their romances whatsoever A. because they were making bad choices and B. because I did not care about them.

People keep comparing this one to The Parent Trap and I personally find that insulting.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Maine Characters at an indie bookstore near you
Maine Characters on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Slow Burn Summer by Josie Silver ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

When Kate got married, she gave up her dream of acting. Now newly divorced, she reaches out to her old talent agent only to connect with his son, Charlie, who has inherited the business and is looking for someone to act as a stand-in for the author of a new romance novel.

Josie Silver’s writing is always delightful. She creates characters and situations that are funny and quirky and believable and altogether a joy to read about. I loved getting to know Kate and watching the public instantly adore her as she steps out on the job. I could so easily see why she attracted such attention.

The first part of the book focuses on Kate’s acting job and it takes a bit of a turn later on. I definitely preferred the first half of the book, but Kate and the side characters – like her sister and daughter, kept the book fun.

Romance was not a big focus of the story. When the title says slow burn, it means it. That said, I liked seeing the banter and sparks between Charlie as they each navigate life and love post-divorce.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Slow Burn Summer at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, mystery

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Mystery

What a fantastic reminder of how much I love Janelle Brown’s writing. What Kind of Paradise is, at its core, a mystery, but it is also a sweeping exploration of one girl’s unusual life and the dark undercurrents that led to everything she knows.

Jane grew up in a cabin in the woods in Montana with her dad. They were almost entirely cut off from the outside world, with him constantly explaining the evils of technological advancement as well as having regular drills of what to do if and when the FBI came looking for them.

As Jane gets older and has a bit more exposure to the outside world, she begins to question whether her father’s rules and views are actually aligned with her own beliefs. After discovering paperwork in her dad’s study that makes her question everything, Jane sets off for San Francisco on her own and finds herself surrounded by start-ups focused on exactly the type of technological advancement she has been taught to fear.

I was so impressed with how huge this story felt while still only being about Jane. The section set in Montana was so different from that set in San Francisco but they were each so well developed in terms of setting and characters. I felt wholly immersed in both worlds and enjoyed them each equally.

The focus on the possible evils of technology felt so timely but I loved that it was explored at a time when the internet was just getting started. The arguments on each side are still so relevant and it was such an interesting study of someone who saw the downside to the internet so early vs. the people working so hard to expand what it could do. Plopping Jane in the middle, who had been spoon-fed one perspective all her life, was fascinating.

This story had so many layers and explored so many themes. It’s hard to try to capture it all in one review, so I’ll just say read it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy What Kind of Paradise at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction

Set primarily at the University of Edinburgh, I was sucked in immediately by the allure of an academic setting. Pen is attending the university from Canada in part because she believes there’s someone there who can help her understand her parents’ divorce. Her best friend Alice is also attending. I loved their friendship. They had been friends forever and watching them fumble their way through university together, making mistakes as they went, was such an understandable journey.

Pen’s sleuthing skills led her to a wealthy author, Elliott Lennox, in the countryside and she visits his estate in the hopes that he will have information for her about her family. Instead, she finds herself welcomed by his family and drawn to Elliott’s son, Sasha, in particular. Thus her relationship with the family quickly becomes more complex than its mysterious beginning. I adored this family – how warm they were and how they enveloped Pen.

Alice’s storyline felt a little half-baked in comparison to Pen’s and I’m not sure it was really necessary. Although still interesting and a good example of how we may experience and make mistakes through early adulthood, her story felt completely divorced from the central plotline.

There was also on-campus drama that flowed between Pen’s visits to the Lennox estate and these depicted believable college experiences. I did feel that Pen’s relationship with the Lennox family was the most compelling part of the story, but her time at school was filled with enough drama that the book never felt dry.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus at an indie bookstore near you
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